Trump Loves Her. His Allies Don’t Trust Her. (Ian Ward, 10/25/24, POLITICO)
Among the nationalist-populist wing of the GOP, Rollins and her allies at AFPI are viewed as the rump faction of the old Republican establishment, dedicated to preserving the pre-Trump political orthodoxy that prioritizes free trade, deregulation, business-friendly economic policies and an expansive role for the U.S. on the global stage. During her stint in the Trump White House — which Rollins joined in 2018 as director of the little-known Office of American Innovation before becoming acting director of the Domestic Policy Council in 2020 — Rollins allied herself with Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who was widely viewed as the leader of the White House’s more centrist and corporatist faction. With Kushner’s support, Rollins elevated criminal justice reform as a major issue within the Trump White House, putting her at odds with Trump’s more hardline advisers.
“She is a Bush conservative,” said a former Trump administration official, who was granted anonymity to discuss their experience working with Rollins. “She’s an unrepentant H.W. [Bush], Rick Perry [conservative] — that’s her ideology.”
This report is based on information from an extensive review of Rollins’ public statements, dozens of conversations with insiders and a half dozen interviews with people who have worked directly with Rollins — including some of her closest allies — most of whom agreed to be interviewed as long as they were not identified by name because of Rollins’ growing influence. In a written statement, a spokesperson for AFPI declined to comment directly on whether she would accept the chief of staff position and emphasized Rollins’ loyalty to Trump, writing, “In an administration where the weakly committed did not last, Brooke was on the team until the very end of term one.” A spokesperson for the Trump transition responded to a set of questions about Rollins’ role with a generic statement saying that “formal discussions about who will serve in a second Trump Administration is [sic] premature.”
To a degree, AFPI’s plans for a second Trump administration reflect Rollins’ more conventional orientation. Although the group’s policy agenda flicks at Trump-y issues like restricting immigration and “draining the swamp,” the bulk of its policy plans are devoted to traditional Republican priorities like slashing government regulation, extending business-friendly tax cuts and pursuing a foreign policy based around the Reaganite mandate of “peace through strength.” AFPI’s roster of staffers and advisers also reflects Rollins’ more pre-Trump leanings: Kudlow is a self-avowed proponent of free trade who has expressed skepticism about Trump’s more aggressive trade and tariff policies, and Chad Wolf, executive director of AFPI and the former acting director of the Department of Homeland Security under Trump, is viewed by some conservatives as a less effective advocate for immigration restriction than hardline Trump aides like Stephen Miller.
